Today's commercial/industrial coffee makers generally require a professional coffee machine operator. These are generally electrically powered devices that are heavy, large bar's space consuming, difficult to move, require a permanent water connection, are mechanically complex, and require frequent maintenance. The production of whipped milk is accomplished using steam operated, with the results (in terms of consistency, bubble size, homogeneity, viscosity, and the like) depends on the particular operator's skills.
Industrial coffee catering is expensive, and sometimes not possible due to water and electricity requirements. Home hospitality would benefit from high quality and tasty coffee, (espresso or cappuccino), which are usually one or two cups at a time. Guests are not generally offered cappuccino due to the time and effort involved in the process. The “coffee boy” is employed for several minutes per cup, while being absent from the guests table.
The currently employed method of processing milk foam is based on the heating of the milk using hot steam. This process is controlled manually and the quality of the milk foam is very much affected by the proficiency of the user and requires a specific combination of adequate heating process and specialized usage of the steam. Steam frothing of milk is obtained by injecting steam to heat the milk while injecting air into the milk. Both the temperature of the milk and the foam are important for a good result. Milk will not froth well if the milk is foamed. Unfortunately, milk sometimes fails to foam during the injection of steam and hence cannot be used for making cappuccino. Poor steam frothing may be caused for example, by excess water in the milk which changes the milk thickness, changes the coffee\milk ratio, and has an effect on frothing. Too much or too little milk fat content likewise affects frothing although skim milk generally gives more froth than milk containing milk fat; however, the froth in skim milk is less dense and subsides faster. In running a traditional espresso bar, a serious limitation is the rate at which the operator can steam and froth milk—not the rate at which one can brew espresso. Adding an Automatic Milk Whipping Appliance to the existing traditional espresso machine will significantly enhance its performance and allow replacement of the skilled operator with an unskilled person.
The present coffee catering industry prefers to serve brewed coffee; few companies use modern automatic espresso and cappuccino machines for serving a limited number of guests due to the very high cost; no micro-foam capability as explained in this application. Such machines are very expensive, don't need a water connection or special electrical outlets but have limited capability to service hundreds of guests with cappuccino in short times.